On Divorce and Allied Themes
A scene from “The Downsizing” a movie starring Matt Damon and Christoph Waltz among others has the following conversation between Matt Damon’s character and Hong Chau’s character after they had sex on a boat the previous night: Ngoc Lan Tran : Other night on boat, what kind of fuck you give me? Paul Safranek : What? Ngoc Lan Tran : What kind of fuck you give me? Paul Safranek : What kind? I don't... Ngoc Lan Tran : American people, eight kind of fuck. Love fuck, hate fuck, sex-only fuck, break-up fuck, make-up fuck, drunk fuck, buddy fuck, pity fuck. Over the past few days, my WhatsApp inbox has been inundated with a speech that veteran journalist, broadcaster, and diplomat Frank Mutubila is said to have delivered at a recent wedding. Reading through it, one could not miss that this was a speech from the heart—written with such jarring frankness (excuse the pun) that it felt as if he were talking to his younger self. It...
